While greater than 90% of the entire region is utilised for beef
cattle grazing, vegetation clearing has been more focused in extent
and had principally occurred on the coastal plains from Townsville
south to Bowen and in extensive areas of the Belyando-Suttor
sub-catchment in the south east of the region. In total 23% or 2.9
million ha of the Burdekin basin has been cleared (Queensland
Herbarium 1999), with individual biogeographic subregions of the
Belyando-Suttor having only 30-50% of vegetation cover remaining (
Morgan 2001 ) .
Clearing
The Burdekin Catchment has been subjected to a significant level
of clearing in some areas, while other areas are less affected and
only show pockets of clearing. Woodland savannas constitute the
prevalent vegetation form across much of the catchment. In many
areas this vegetation is still relatively intact, in others where
there has been clearing activity to develop improved pastures or
open up country for cropping, the native tree vegetation has been
lost, and with it, it is likely that many of the biodiversity
values have been lost as well (
Roth et al. 2002 ). There is a variable rate of tree clearing
across the region, with some sub-catchments supporting over 90%
native habitat, and others 51%.
A large portion of the coastal floodplains in the Lower Burdekin
has been cleared for irrigation. Quite large tracts of land in the
Belyando have also been cleared, some for cropping, some for
improved pastures, and where much of the original
Brigalow cover has been targeted for clearing.
In the Upper Burdekin and Desert Uplands, clearing is far less
evident, although there are some significant pockets where clearing
has been undertaken to enhance native pastures. Regrowth in these
areas is proving to be a challenge, and the difficulty in managing
regrowth coupled to marginal economic benefits has probably
constrained further clearing in these areas.
The major impact of clearing includes:
• loss in species and changes in biodiversity composition
and ecosystem function;
• changes to water balance, particularly groundwater with
implications for dryland salinity; and
• loss of aesthetic and amenity values.